Diane Mendenhall joined the Nebraska Pro Volleyball the “Omaha Supernovas” in July of this year as its President. In this role Diane will lead a current team of 26 (and growing), 16 players, and a comprehensive Medical Team in the inaugural year of the Pro Volleyball Federation League.
Prior to joining the Supernovas, Diane worked for three years at the Lincoln Community Foundation as VP for Strategic Giving and for 20 years for the University of Nebraska in several administrative leadership positions. Her roles at UNL included 12 years in Husker Athletics – initially as John Cook’s first Director of Volleyball Operations and then as a Senior Associate Athletics Director, followed by six years leading the 25,000 member Nebraska Alumni Association as the Executive Director. Diane completed her tenure at the university by serving as the Chancellor’s Director of External Engagement. She was honored to serve two Chancellor’s for eight years as a member of the Chancellor’s Cabinet.
A native of Ogallala, Neb., Diane is an alumna of the University of Kansas. She was a four-year starter for the Jayhawk volleyball team and a team captain as a senior. Many of you know her as the former radio analyst of Nebraska Volleyball for 16 years.
The Community Service Committee for the Suburban Rotary Club has lined up yet another wonderful opportunity for our members to volunteer and help the community. We will be staffing a few shifts again this year for the Salvation Army Night Watch Program. For anyone who has done this in the past, you know this is such a positive and impactful outreach opportunity. For those who have not, you don't want to miss out on a chance to help your fellow citizens.
The Salvation Army Night Watch Program runs during the winter months. They take out three different routes with three different "Canteen" vehicles, which stop at specific locations throughout North, South, and Central Omaha. At each stop, they provide a warm boxed dinner to those who come for assistance, as well as provide those in need with coats, blankets, or any other clothing items needed for warmth.
The Suburban Rotary Club of Omaha has been asked to staff the Canteen Route on the following dates/times:
Recently, we had the pleasure of hearing the life of Educator Extraordinaire Alice Schumaker. Alice Schumaker, a native of McCook, Nebraska, located in the far southwest of the state, is a seasoned Rotarian with over 25 years of active involvement in the organization. Growing up on a farm just outside of town, Alice developed a strong sense of community and a love for learning from an early age. With three brothers, a stepdaughter, a stepson, and eight grandchildren, family has always been a cornerstone of her life, despite the loss of her husband Rand, son Eric, and stepson Brian.
Her educational journey began in McCook before she ventured out to pursue her passion for medical technology. Graduating from McCook Junior College and later from the University of Nebraska Medical Center with a degree in Medical Technology, Alice embarked on an 18-year career in clinical laboratory science. Seeking new horizons and driven by a sense of adventure, she worked in various locations including Denver, Modesto, San Jose, San Francisco, and eventually returned to UNMC to complete a Masters Degree in Pathology.
As the landscape of healthcare underwent significant changes, Alice found herself drawn to the field of Public Administration with a focus on Health Policy. She obtained a Master of Public Administration from the University of Nebraska at Omaha (UNO) where she also served as a research associate, delving into community development and teaching. Her dedication to education and community involvement led her to co-plan a joint Master of Public Health degree with UNMC, culminating in the establishment of the College of Public Health where she served as Associate Dean.
Alice's commitment to service extends beyond her professional endeavors. Her passion for Rotary stems from its core values and impactful projects. She is particularly enthusiastic about Rotary's involvement in service projects both locally and globally, the Polio Plus campaign in partnership with the Gates Foundation to eradicate polio, and the Youth Ambassadorial program, which holds a special place in her heart as her granddaughter participated in it, experiencing the transformative power of international exchange firsthand.
Having served as the past chair of the Suburban Scholarship Committee and being actively involved in both the North and Suburban Rotary Clubs, Alice emphasizes the importance of inviting others to join Rotary, recognizing the value of community engagement and service.
In summary, Alice Schumaker's life has been marked by a continuous pursuit of learning, service, and community involvement. Her dedication to Rotary and its values underscores her commitment to making a positive difference in the world, both now and in the future.
Thanks to the generous contributions from Rotarians to the Suburban Rotary Charitable Foundation, we have the opportunity to make a significant impact by providing 41,800 meals through a multi-club grant with funds matched by the Rotary International Foundation through the District Designated Fund. We invite you to join us in packaging these meals on February 24, 2024.
For any inquiries or further information, please contact our Project Lead, Eli McNichols, at elimci@cox.net. Your participation and support contribute to the success of this impactful endeavor.
Earl Knauss got a lesson in food waste when he received a neighbor’s gift of three bushels of red peppers that had been cast aside by a farm because they were misshapen. “I discovered that odd-shaped, blemished, and imperfect vegetables were dumped or destroyed,” says Knauss, of the Rotary Club of Hamburg in western New York state. He asked the farm’s owner for more of the unsalable produce and collected 18-gallon totes of vegetables that he sent to food pantries. The Farm to Family project has since expanded to include three farms, and the Hamburg club formally adopted it in 2018. From May to December, Rotary members and friends work alongside Knauss delivering vegetables to about 3,000 families. In 2022, they provided more than 100,000 pounds of vegetables to 23 distribution sites. Among them is the Resurrection Life Food Pantry in Cheektowaga, where pantry director Kim Reynolds says the site would not have many fresh vegetables without the program. “Our clients rely on Farm to Family to fill that gap,” she says.
Peru
Much of the milk produced in Peru never leaves the farm: It’s consumed directly by farming families, fed to calves, and used to make artisanal cheeses. The Rotary E-Club of Fusión Latina Distrito 4465 teamed up with the nonprofit CEDEPAS Norte to help subsistence farmers in the country’s northern highlands. Last year the club delivered stainless steel presses and molds to open two cheese production facilities. A global grant of more than $50,000 helped pay for the equipment, training, management, and marketing. “So far there are 21 new employees and 63 families served, and 25 pregnant cows were gifted” through the Peruvian government program Agroideas, says Club President Fernando Barrera, who lives in Trujillo.
In June 1999, a year after I joined the staff of Rotary International, I attended my first convention. It was then that I first witnessed the global power of Rotary and made my first batch of Rotary friends. And it was then that I was introduced to Singapore for a second time.
My first trip to Singapore occurred five years earlier when, as a journalist, I covered the third Europe-East Asia Economic Summit. At that time, Western financial media were referring to Singapore as the 20th century’s most successful development story, which meant that the summit lured scores of policymakers, economists, and businesspeople from across Europe and Asia.
Once a British Crown colony which subsequently merged with Malaysia, Singapore broke away and was founded as an independent sovereign nation in 1965. Despite predictions that a string of small islands that lack natural resources to survive, Lee Kwan Yew, who was referred to as the founding father of modern Singapore, turned the tattered outpost of the faded empire into a thriving modern nation. The archipelago of 64 islands that was once plagued by malaria and rife with ethnic conflicts among its Chinese, Malay, and Indian populations, now stands as a gleaming city state, known in the 1990s throughout the world as one of the four Asian Tigers for its robust economic transformation along with Hong Kong, South Korea, and Taiwan.
Having grown up in China, where decades of Mao’s draconian rule had impoverished the country, I, along with millions of other Chinese, became enamored of the Singapore model of economic success. My first impression of Singapore in 1994, which will forever be associated with the brightly illuminated skyscrapers that dotted the banks of the Singapore River, confirmed my belief that this was a place of modernity and prosperity.
R. Gordon R. McInally is president of Rotary International. He was educated at the Royal High School in Edinburgh and at the University of Dundee, where he earned his graduate degree in dental surgery. He operated his own dental practice in Edinburgh until 2016. Gordon was chair of the East of Scotland branch of the British Paedodontic Society and has held various academic positions. He has also served as a presbytery elder, chair of the Queensferry parish congregational board, and commissioner to the general assembly of the Church of Scotland. Read President McInally's biography.
Watch the video below of President McInally's address to the Rotary International Assembly:
Consider visiting another Rotary club for a make-up! Rotary.org has a club finder for locations around the world. Please see the District website at rotarydistrict5650.org for details on local clubs. Visit one of the following Metro-Area Clubs!
Monday: Omaha Millard Rotary, 12:00 pm, German American Society, 3717 South 120th St.
Tuesday: Omaha Morning 7:00 am, Wheatfields Restaurant & Bakery, 1224 S 103rd St., One Pacific Place, Omaha NE 68124
Tuesday: Omaha Northwest, 12:00 pm, Sand Point, New England Fare, 655 North 114th Street. Omaha, NE 68154
Wednesday: Omaha Downtown, 12:00 pm, Trinity 113 N 18th St., Omaha, NE 68124
Wednesday: Council Bluffs Centennial: 7:00 am, Hy-Vee Community Room 1745 Madison Avenue Thursday: West Douglas County, 12:00 PM Elkhorn Public Schools Foundation 20272 Veterans Drive
Thursday: Council Bluffs, 12:00 pm, Hoff Family Arts & Culture Center, 1001 South 6th Street
Friday: Omaha West, 12:00 pm, Charlie's on the Lake, 4151 S 144th St., Omaha, NE 68137
Email Yolanda for make-up/attendance credit at yolanda@suburbanrotary.org.
DIANE MENDENHALL
Recently, we had the pleasure of hearing the life of Educator Extraordinaire Alice Schumaker. Alice Schumaker, a native of McCook, Nebraska, located in the far southwest of the state, is a seasoned Rotarian with over 25 years of active involvement in the organization. Growing up on a farm just outside of town, Alice developed a strong sense of community and a love for learning from an early age. With three brothers, a stepdaughter, a stepson, and eight grandchildren, family has always been a cornerstone of her life, despite the loss of her husband Rand, son Eric, and stepson Brian.
Peru
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